Locking mechanism for motor vehicle doors



June 13, 1939. w. H. ASKEW 2,162,048

LOCKING MECHANISM FOR MOTOR VEHICLE DOORS Filed Jan. 17, 1938 s Sheets-Sheet 1 a? wayzam ea.

ATTO R N EYS June 13, 1939. w s w 2,162,048

LOCKING MECHANISM FOR MOTOR VEHICLE DOORS INVENTOR ATTO R NEYS June 13, 1939. w. H. ASKEW LOCKING MECHANISM FOR MOTOR VEHICLE DOO Filed Jan. 17, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Wfffisiiew av wayw l z AT okNEYs vehicles and the like.

Patented June ,13, 1939 PATENT OFFICE LOCKING MECHANISM FOR MOTOR VEHICLE DOORS Wade H. Askew, Mobile, Ala. Application January 17, 1938, Serial No. 185,442

2 Claims.

My-inventionrelates to new and improved locking mechanisms for locking the doors of motor In the conventional type of motor vehicle construction all of the doors except one are locked and unlocked individually by devices arranged to be operated manually from inside the vehicle and only from the inside thereof. In this type of construction, the remaining door is arranged to be locked and unlocked from the outside of-the vehicle by means of a key operated lock and such locks are oftentimes con-'- structed in a manner that the lock mechanism may be operated from inside the vehicle to un-- lock and lock the aforesaid remaining door. With the motor vehicle equippedwith locking devices for one or. more of the doors operable from inside the vehicle to unlock the doors door.

after the vehicle has been locked from the outside thereof, it is possible for a person to neglect to lock one'of the doors from inside previous to locking the remaining door from outside thereby permitting a thief or unauthorized person to enter said vehicle by means of said unlocked One of the principal objects of my invention is to improve the construction and mode of operation of the locking mechanisms for locking the doors of a motor vehicle and to produce avlocking mechanism which will avoid the disadvantage above referred to in prior locking mechanisms. 1

Another object of my invention is to produce an improved locking mechanism for simultaneously locking two or more doors of a motor vehiclefrom outside of said vehicle.

A further object of. my invention is to provide an improved locking mechanism for motor vehicles whereby each of. the doors may be selectively locked or unlocked from the inside of the vehicle.

A still further object of my invention is to vprovide a'locking mechanism of the above described character which is positive in operation, eiiicient in use and simple in construction.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following description, appended claims and annexed drawings.

Referring to the drawings wherein like reference characters designate like parts throughout the several views:

Figure 1 is a vertical section through a portion of the body of a motor vehicle illustrating my locking mechanism as applied to one door thereof and further illustrating diagrammatically a switch actuated through the medium of an ordinary form of key lock mechanism on another door, together with the connecting circuit.

Figures 2 to 6 inclusive are sectional views taken on the lines 2-2, 3--3, 4-4, 5-5 and 5 66 of Figure 1, respectively.

Figure 7 is a diagrammatic view illustrating a plurality of motor vehicle doors having my locking mechanisms applied thereto together with the circuit and switch for actuating the same. 10

In the form of the invention illustrated in the drawings the invention is applied to the body and doors of a motor vehicle, a portion of which is shown including the sections of a door and jamb 5 and 6 respectively of three doors thereof and a sectionof a door andjamb of a fourth door 5a and 6a respectively. The body is of the usual closed type having the three doors equipped with my improved lock mechanisms A of like constructions and the fourth door equipped with. the ordinary type of key operated lock mechanism B.

Inasmuch as the lock mechanisms A of each of the three doors are of an identical construction, a detailed description of one such mechanism will sufllce, it being understood, for the purpose of description, that the reference numerals indicative of parts of one mechanism are indicative of like parts of the other mechanisms. The lock mechanism A comprises a housing having in the upper section 1 thereof a sliding bolt 8. Said housing is provided with transversely extending lugs 9 operable within elonated slots l0 formed in the bolt whereby to limit the retraction and projection of said bolt within the housing. The bolt is fashioned with an inclined end section II at one end thereof for engagement within a keeper 12 secured within the jamb 6. The upper section of said bolt is provided with a slot L3 in which is positioned one end of an actuating arm [4 pivotally mounted within said housing and having a handle I5 connected thereto on the outside of said door whereby to manually actuate the bolt to retracted position from outside of the motor vehicle. 5

posite end ofthe member l3 is formed with flat and arcuate faces 23 and 24 respectively-for engagement with the walls I1 and I3 respectively; The inner end of the shaft 23 extends within the motor vehicle and has secured thereon ad- Jacent the inner face ofthe door a handle 25 whereby the member l3 may be moved in one direction for engaging'the face 23 with .the wall I! to prevent retraction of the bolt by the handle I5 and in the opposite direction to permit the arcuate face 24 to engage the wall N for cam: ming the bolt into retracted position independent of actuation by the handle l5 whereby to lock and unlock said door respectively. The lowerend of the wall I1 is fashioned with an inwardly extending section to limit the downward movement of the member l3. Adjacent said extending section there is provided a spring actuated retaining member 26 for engagement with the member I3 for yieldably maintaining the same in engagement with the wall II to prevent accidental dislodgement therefrom. Intermediate of the channel l6 and section II, 'the bolt is segmented to form a transverse face 21 engageable by the end of a spring 23 mounted within saidhousing for normally maintaining said bolt in projected position.

Within the housing, adjacent the rear end of the bolt 8, there is secured a transversely extending shaft 23 on which is pivoted a locking member 33 having front and rear end sections 3| and 32 respectively. The rear end section 32 is engaged by an offset section 33 formed on the upper end of an arm 34 pivotally mounted within the housing. The section 33 serves. to maintain the arm 33 in a position whereby the rear face 35 of the bolt engages the front end section 3| to prevent actuation of the bolt to retracted position as illustrated in Figure l of the drawings.

The lower end of the arm 34 is connected to one end of a spring 36 secured to the housing and said spring serves to urge the upper end of the arm 34 towards the rear end of the arm 33. The arm 34 is pivoted intermediate the ends thereof and fashioned with a laterally extending lug 31, between said pivot and upper end, for

engagement with the rear end of the rod 22.

The rod 22 is slidabiy mounted in bearing members.33 securedto the housing and is adapted to 33 and when energized serves to move said section downwardly and position the front end section of the arm 33 in the path of the bolt to prevent v actuation of said bolt to retracted position. When the section '32 of the arm 33 is moved downwardly under the influence of the electromagnet 4|, the spring 36 serves to move the section 33 of the arm 34 over the upper face of the arm 33 and maintain the section 32 of the arm in a downward position'against the tension of the spring 39 thus maintaining the arm in position for engagement with the face of the bolt 35 to prevent retraction thereof through the medium of the handle I 5 and connected parts.

-An electro-magnet 42, similar in construction to the electro-magnet 4| is located rearwardly of the end section 32 of the arm 33, the upper end of the arm 34 being interposed. The upper end of the arm 34, on the rear face thereof, is fashioned with a contact 43 whereby, upon energization of the electro-magnet 42, the upper end of the arm 34 is actuated towards said magnet and releases the rear section 32 of the arm 33 causing the front section 3| thereof to pivot downwardly under the influence of the. spring 33 out of the path of the bolt 8 when moved to retracted position.

The foregoing is descriptive of the locking mechanism A secured to one of the doors and the same is connected with like mechanisms secured to the other doors 5 by electricalmeans whereby the same may be operated in a desired order.

Secured to the ordinary lock mechanism B on the door 5a is a switch mechanism 53 compris-' ing the usual lock cylinder 5| fashioned with a depending switch arm 52 operable within a circumferentially extending slot in the barrel of said lock. Said lock cylinder is adapted to be actuated through the medium of a key (not shown) insertable therein from the outside of the door. The lock mechanism B is of the typical construction having the usual inside operating handle (not shown) and the usual outside handle I512.

The inner, and outer faces of the switch arm respectively for engagement with spaced contact plates 55 and 56 respectively secured to opposite faces of an insulated arm 51 attached to the door 56. by means of a yieldable connecting plate 53 as clearly'illustrated in Figures 1, 5 and 6.

The contact plates 55 and 56 are of an arcuate configuration and located concentrically of the barrel 5| whereby rotation of the arm 52 serves to cause one of the contacts 53 or 54 to engage therewith as hereinafter described. As illustrated in. Figure 5, the contact plates 55-and 56 and arm 51 are inflected intermediate of the ends thereof whereby rotation of the switch arm 52 in a counterclockwise direction as indicated by the arrow in Figure 1 will cause the contact 54 to engage contact plate 56 for effecting energization of the electro-magnet 42. Rotation of the arm 52 in an opposite direction will cause contact 53 to engage contact plate 55 to effect energization of the electro-magnet 4|.

.The switch arm and cylinder 5| are connected to one terminal of the motor vehicle battery 59 by means of an electrical connection 63, while theother terminal of said battery is grounded to the frame of the vehicle by means of a connection 6|, it being understood that the switch arm and cylinder are insulated from the door frame. Each of the electro-magnets 4| and 42 are grounded to the frame of the vehicle by electric connections 62 and 63 respectively. The electromagnets 4| on each door are connected to the contact plate 55 by electrical wiring 64- and likewise each of the electro-magnets 42 are connected to the contact plate 56 by electrical wiring 65.

In operation, with particular reference to Figure 1 of the drawings, the lock mechanisms A on each of the doors of the motor vehicle being in unlocked condition, the member l3 being out of engagement with the walls l1 and I3 of the channel, the switch arm is rotated clockwise to effect connection between the contact 53 and plate 55 to cause energization of the electromagnet 4|. When the electromagnet 4| is energized, the front end section 3| of the arm 33 is 30 52 are each provided with a contact53 and 54 pivoted upwardly against the tension of the spring 39 and the section 33 01' the arm 34 engaged over the end 32 by the action of the spring 36 thereby positioning the front end of the arm 30in the path of the bolt 8 as clearly illustrated in full lines in Figure 1. In this position of the parts, all of the lock mechanisms A are in locked condition to prevent an opening of any of the doors 5 except by actuation of the switch arm 52 from without the motor vehicle or actuation of the individual handles 25 within the vehicle.

Actuation of the switch arm 52 in a reverse direction causes the contact 54 to engage the plate 56 and close the circuit from the battery to energize electro-magnet 42. Upon energization of the electro-magnet 42 the arm 30 is attracted thereto and thus moved from engagement with the rear section 32 of the arm 30 thereby permitting the front end thereof to pivot downwardly out of the path of the bolt 8, thus simultaneously effecting unlocking of all of the lock mechanisms A. 1

When the lock mechanisms A have been placed in a locked condition, as illustrated in full lines in Figure 1, the lock mechanisms A may be selectively actuated to unlocked positions by the handles 25 through the medium of the rear end of the rod 22-which is pivoted to the arm 2l-engaging the front face of the arm II and effecting disengagement of the latter from the rear section 32 of the arm III.

From the foregoing it will beapparent that while each of the lock mechanisms A and B may be individually locked from within the motor vehicle, all of said mechanisms may be simultaneously locked from without the motor vehicle by actuation of the switch arm 52 and cylinder 5!. In instances where one-or more of the lock mechanisms A have been locked by actuation of the handles 25 from within the motor vehicle, the remainingmechanisms may be locked from without the motor vehicle, by the saidactuation of the arm 52 and the cylinder 5|.

What I claim is: t

1. A lock structure, comprising, a housing formed with a pair of spaced walls, a bolt slidably mounted in said housing and operable to projected and retracted positions, outside and inside bolt actuating members rotatably mounted on and extending through said walls respectively and connectable with said bolt for independently operating the latter to retracted position, said inside member operable to a latched position to maintainsaid bolt in projected position, a latch device carried in said housing and operable for latching said bolt in projected position when the latter is in retractible condition, said latch device responsive to movement of said inside member 'when the latter is actuated to maintain sai'd bolt in projected position whereby to retractibly condition said bolt relative to said latch device for actaution to retracted position by said inside member and by said outside member upon actuation of said inside member from latched position.

2. A look structure, comprising, a housing formed with a, pair of spaced walls, a bolt slidably mounted in said housing and operable to projected and retracted positions, outside and inside bolt actuatingmembers rotatably mounted on and extending through said walls respectively and connectable with said bolt for independently operating the latter to retracted position, said inside member having a cam operable to a latched position to maintain said bolt in projected position, a latch device carried in said housing and operable for latching said bolt in projected position when the latter is in retractible condition, said latch device having a spring pressed arm responsive to movement of said cam when the latter is actuated to maintain said bolt in pro- Jected position whereby said device is operated to retractibly condition said bolt relative to said device for actuation to retracted position by said cam and by either of said inside and outside members upon movement of said cam from latched position.

WADE H. ASKEW. 

